Otaking 2.0

From otaking wiki

(Difference between revisions)

Current revision

Plans for otaking 2.0

1 Hardware
2 Software
- 2.1 Main Goal
- 2.2 Fallback
3 Concept
4 Virtual Machines
- 4.1 Additional services
- 4.2 Storage
5 VMware tweaks
6 VMware discussion forum
- 6.1 Interesting topics
7 Links
- 7.1 VMware
- 7.2 Tom's Hardware

Hardware

Hardware plans have changed yet again, and it's close to being final. This time the focus is on relatively low power consumption.

[edit]

Pre-existing hardware

I have a bunch of old drives that are starting to tap out. I have decided to put them out of their misery rather than trying to squeeze the last few months out of them.

[edit]

What I need

My main requirement for a new server is data redundancy. I'm tired of unreliable hard drives that fail with little or no prior indication. The new server's system drives will therefore be set up as a two disk raid 1 array. Most likely software raid.

Low purchase and running cost is also of concern.

This has been my most recent starting point when deciding what hardware I should buy.

[edit]

Planned purchases

Case

Chieftec Mesh Fulltower or Chieftec Mesh Miditower with a 400W PSU included.

I will require two 120mm fans and three to five 92mm fans as well as a fan controller with at least 4 channels to go with them. Maybe some filters as well.

Motherboard

Asus M2NBP-VM or M2NPV-VM (they seem to be fairly equal) with the AM2 socket and ECC memory support.

CPU

AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350.

RAM

I believe 2 GB of DDR2 ECC RAM of a decent brand will be enough.

Graphics card

I won't be needing one with the current choice of motherboard. It comes with integrated graphics.

Storage

2x 320 GB SATA HDDs (Western Digital RE, RE=Raid Edition with 5 year warranty and other goodies). These will be for my system drive in a software RAID 1 array.

Eventually I will consider getting the following as well:

4x 500 GB Western Digital RE2 for additional storage in a software RAID 5 array.

[edit]

Software

[edit]

Main Goal

Host OS: CentOS 5 (based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux)

VMware Server for Linux

I want to attempt this possible solution since this will give me more freedom. It will be much more dynamic to use VM machines than having just one main OS directly on top of the hardware. It allows for more experimentation, and easier backup.

[edit]

Fallback

Host OS: FreeBSD 6.x (or 7)

If the VMware solution isn't feasible I will fall back on having FreeBSD installed directly. If I have to go with this idea I will explore FreeBSD compatible virtual machine server software.

[edit]

Concept

Minimal host OS running multiple guest OSes with VMware Server.

[edit]

Virtual Machines

A short list of possible configurations of virtual machines. Each VM has some overhead in terms of RAM usage which limits the number of VMs I can run at one time. Possible overhead (up to 54 MB for a VM allocated up to 512 MB RAM) is not included in resource proposal per VM.

(This list was composed when I was aiming for 4 GB of RAM and more CPU power. It will be updated in time, but for now it stays.)

	Description	Guest OS	Service(s)	Resource proposal	Main storage	Comment
VM 1	Firewall/ router/ port forwarding	Free- or OpenBSD	ipfw with dummynets(?)	~128-256 MB RAM	Configuration saved within VMfs
VM 2	HTTP/FTP/radio/mail etc.	FreeBSD	Apache 2.x PureFTPd(?)	~256-512 MB RAM	Files accessed via NAS(?)
VM 3	DB/storage server	FreeBSD	MySQL 5.x, SVN, samba	~256-512 MB RAM	DB saved within VMware virtual disk Misc storage t.b.d.	Current database size ~120 MB
VM 4	minikai	Windows (2k?)	MSN, IRC, ICQ, Jabber, etc.	~512-768 MB RAM	Files saved within VMware virtual disk
VM 5	Misc Windows client	Windows (2k?)	DC/BT etc.	~512-768 MB RAM	Storage access to VM 3 via VM 1
Summary				~1.6-2.8 GB RAM / 4 GB

[edit]

Additional services

Some form of combined user database to connect mail, FTP and storage. LDAP?

[edit]

Storage

Different ways to manage VM/data storage. The easiest way to share access to data is to utilize the storage VM server.

One idea is to store the information in the same VMware virtual disk as the guest OS. This could work well enough when the required storage space is low.

A better idea is to store the data in a separate VMware virtual disk from the guest OS for easy backup. In the case of large storage requirements, like for the NAS server, this is a much better idea than the previous since it separates the OS from the data.

A third idea, mainly for the NAS server's more permanent storage of larger files, is to mount one or more partitions/devices raw. You wouldn't need to have data stored in VMware virtual disk files on such drives, which increases portability and access from outside of the VM if necessary.

[edit]

VMware tweaks

VMware clock drift (Linux guest)

This page recommends adding the following kernel options in your boot loader:

nosmp noapic nolapic clock=pit

Minimize clock drift in FreeBSD guest

Add this line to your /boot/loader.conf file:

hint.apic.0.disabled=1

General time options

Add these lines to your VM's .vmx config file:

tools.syncTime = "TRUE"

Additional .vmx file configuration parameters that may be useful if the above alone isn't working:

CONFIG_HZ_1000=y

[edit]

VMware discussion forum

VMware Server forum

My recently posted topic: VM and data storage (comments on my planned server upgrade is appreciated)

[edit]

Interesting topics

ram drive

Physical Disk Multiple VMservers

Multiple NICS in host machine

Shared Drive question..

VMDK Performance tweaks....how to obtain the best performance???

Vmware Server – Teaming / Bonding Multiple NICs in Linux

Add VMXNet and Heartbeat to Monowall!

VMware Server Tips’n’Tricks « Jayson Rowe’s Ramblings

[edit]

 '''Plans for otaking 2.0'''
 =Hardware=
-Hardware plans have changed after Intel's price drop this summer. It will be alot of new things.
+Hardware plans have changed yet again, and it's close to being final. This time the focus is on relatively low power consumption.
 ==Pre-existing hardware==
-A few old HDDs for temporary high-performance non-critical storage (possibly 3x 80 GB in software RAID 5).
+I have a bunch of old drives that are starting to tap out. I have decided to put them out of their misery rather than trying to squeeze the last few months out of them.
-IDE controller card using a PCI slot. (Will require a new one if there is no Linux support.)
+==What I need==
+My main requirement for a new server is data redundancy. I'm tired of unreliable hard drives that fail with little or no prior indication. The new server's system drives will therefore be set up as a two disk raid 1 array. Most likely software raid.
+Low purchase and running cost is also of concern.
+This has been my most recent starting point when deciding what hardware I should buy.
 ==Planned purchases==
 '''Motherboard'''
-I had my eyes on the ''Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6'' with four GbLAN ports, 10 SATAII ports etc, but it costs a shitload. I probably won't need more than what the ''Abit AB9 Pro'' has to offer, which is two GbLAN ports and 9 SATAII ports (plus one eSATA). I still need to confirm driver compatibility with Red Hat based OSes on the AB9 Pro.
+Asus M2NBP-VM or M2NPV-VM (they seem to be fairly equal) with the AM2 socket and ECC memory support.
 '''CPU'''
-Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2.4 GHz with four cores and 4 MB L2 cache per pair.
+AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350.
 '''RAM'''
--4 GB of DDR2 RAM of any decent brand will do. Preferably two 2 GB sticks to have room for upgrades in the future, if more than 4 GB is needed.
+I believe 2 GB of DDR2 ECC RAM of a decent brand will be enough.
 '''Graphics card'''
-A low-end graphics card for PCI-express. Mostly any will do as long as it doesn't try to share system memory.
+I won't be needing one with the current choice of motherboard. It comes with integrated graphics.
 '''Storage'''
-x 250 or 320 GB SATA HDDs (Western Digital RE/RE2, RE=Raid Edition with 5 year warranty); For use as system disks in a software RAID 1 array.
+x 320 GB SATA HDDs (Western Digital RE, RE=Raid Edition with 5 year warranty and other goodies).
+These will be for my system drive in a software RAID 1 array.
-GB Western Digital (SE or RE) for additional storage.
-Possibly more since I need to replace three drives, two 200 GB and one 320 GB, that are close to failing.
+Eventually I will consider getting the following as well:
-{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1"
+x 500 GB Western Digital RE2 for additional storage in a software RAID 5 array.
-|-
-! || AMD Dual core || Intel Dual core || Intel Quad core
-|-
-!Case
-| colspan="3" align="center"| Chieftec Mesh miditower
-[http://www.dustinhome.se/DacsaPortal/?ProdID=5010082653 at Dustin]
-|-
-!PSU
-| colspan="3" align="center"| T.B.D.
-|-
-!CPU
-| align="center"|Athlon 64 X2 5200+
-| align="center"|Core 2 Duo E6xxx
-| align="center"|Core 2 Quad Q6600
-|-
-!Motherboard
-| align="center"|Asus M2N32 WS PRO
-(ECC memory support)
-[https://www.datorbutiken.com/home/default.aspx?Product=ASM2N32WSPRO at Datorbutiken]
-| colspan="2" align="center"|Asus P5W DH DELUXE
-(ECC memory support)
-[http://www.dustinhome.se/DacsaPortal/?ProdID=5010095829 at Dustin]
-[http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/showproduct.php/product/3920/cat/all Linux support issues]
-|-
-!RAM
-| colspan="3" align="center"| 4 GB ECC (prefered that the motherboard supports it)
-[http://www.dustinhome.se/DacsaPortal/?ProdID=5010099797 2 GB Kingston KVR with ECC at Dustin]
-|-
-!Graphics card
-| colspan="3" align="center"| Any cheap PCI-express card without TurboCache or HyperMemory
-|-
-!Storage
-| colspan="3" align="center"| 2x 250/320 GB SATA Western Digital RE/RE2
--?x 500 GB SATA Western Digital SE/SE2
-|}
 =Software=
+==Main Goal==
 Host OS: CentOS 5 (based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux)
 VMware Server for Linux
+I want to attempt this possible solution since this will give me more freedom. It will be much more dynamic to use VM machines than having just one main OS directly on top of the hardware. It allows for more experimentation, and easier backup.
+==Fallback==
+Host OS: FreeBSD 6.x (or 7)
+If the VMware solution isn't feasible I will fall back on having FreeBSD installed directly. If I have to go with this idea I will explore FreeBSD compatible virtual machine server software.
 =Concept=
 =Virtual Machines=
 A short list of possible configurations of virtual machines. Each VM has some overhead in terms of RAM usage which limits the number of VMs I can run at one time. Possible overhead (up to 54 MB for a VM allocated up to 512 MB RAM) is not included in resource proposal per VM.
+(This list was composed when I was aiming for 4 GB of RAM and more CPU power. It will be updated in time, but for now it stays.)
 {| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1"
 A third idea, mainly for the NAS server's more permanent storage of larger files, is to mount one or more partitions/devices raw. You wouldn't need to have data stored in VMware virtual disk files on such drives, which increases portability and access from outside of the VM if necessary.
+=VMware tweaks=
+[http://www.djax.co.uk/kb/linux/vmware_clock_drift.html VMware clock drift (Linux guest)]
+This page recommends adding the following kernel options in your boot loader:
+nosmp noapic nolapic clock=pit
+'''Minimize clock drift in FreeBSD guest'''
+Add this line to your /boot/loader.conf file:
+hint.apic.0.disabled=1
+'''General time options'''
+Add these lines to your VM's .vmx config file:
+tools.syncTime = "TRUE"
+Additional .vmx file configuration parameters that may be useful if the above alone isn't working:
+CONFIG_HZ_1000=y
 =VMware discussion forum=
 [http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=521137 Vmware Server – Teaming / Bonding Multiple NICs in Linux]
+[http://communities.vmware.com/thread/35543 Add VMXNet and Heartbeat to Monowall!]
+[http://jaysonrowe.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/vmware-server-tipsntricks/ VMware Server Tips’n’Tricks « Jayson Rowe’s Ramblings]
 =Links=
 [http://www.anchorite.org/blog/2006/11/13/minimal-services-on-centos-44-mini-howto/ Minimal Services on CentOS 4.4 mini howto]
+[http://www.tuxyturvy.com/blog/index.php?/archives/37-Troubleshooting-VMware-ESX-network-performance.html Troubleshooting VMware ESX network performance]
+[http://www.thoughtpolice.co.uk/vmware/howto/centos-5-vmware-tools-install.html Installing VMware Tools in CentOS 5]
+[http://ezine.daemonnews.org/200702/fbsd_and_vmwsrvr.html Installing FreeBSD 6.x under VMware server]
+==VMware==
+[http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vmware_timekeeping.pdf VMware timekeeping]
 [http://www.vmware.com/pdf/WS6_Performance_Tuning_and_Benchmarking.pdf Performance Tuning and Benchmarking (pdf)]
-[http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/21/energy-efficient_computing_options/index.html Energy-Efficient Computing Options]
+==Tom's Hardware==
+[http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/21/energy-efficient_computing_options/index.html Energy-Efficient Computing Options (21 august 2007)]
+[http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/16/ups_to_the_rescue/ UPSes To The Rescue (16 august 2007)]
+[http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/09/pc_power_supplies/ PC Power Supplies: More Important than You Think (9 august 2007)]
+[http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/01/the_power_saving_guide/ The Power Saving Guide, Part 2 (1 june 2007)]
+[http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/30/the_power_saving_guide/ The Power Saving Guide (30 may 2007)]

Otaking 2.0

From otaking wiki

Current revision

Contents

Hardware

Pre-existing hardware

What I need

Planned purchases

Software

Main Goal

Fallback

Concept

Virtual Machines

Additional services

Storage

VMware tweaks

VMware discussion forum

Interesting topics

Links

VMware

Tom's Hardware

Views

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